


Payback

by DYP



Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Death, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Future Fic, M/M, Organized Crime, Slight Badgermao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29597643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DYP/pseuds/DYP
Summary: Rufus and Reggie finally did it. They became successful criminals, they were having the time of their lives scamming and scaring everyone who standed on their way. What was outside were no more the dumb criminals of the Valley, but the crime and fear represented in both of them.15 years later, Adorabat decided it was time to stop. It was time to make them dissapear, and not with magic...
Relationships: Badgerclops/Mao Mao Mao, Reggie & Rufus (Mao Mao)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Payback

“Are you sure this is the place?”

“Learn to read knucklehead. Of course this is the place.” answered Rufus.

The icy atmosphere of the night covered the entire valley and the mountains that surrounded it. There were no souls walking through the trails in the late night, where everyone was resting under the protection of the Ruby. To the east; there was the magical kingdom of the valley, dimly lit. Westward; a cabin that seemed time had spared its life.

It was bigger than they remembered, repaired on the outside, with a bright metal door, two floors instead of one, covered with bricks and fresh paint. Rufus and Reggie were surprised to see that their old shelter was better than last time. They thought it would be more destroyed than it already was. It was the first time they had returned to the Valley after being frightened years ago.

Both criminals have had a perfect streak of robberies after being embarrassed years ago in the valley. They knew that after being “kicked out”, they couldn't get another foot inside without being easily recognized by the sheriffs. So they decided to go to other horizons, looking for better luck in different kingdoms. First, robbing restaurants; then, scamming children by giving them “magic wands” in exchange for their cell phones ... They ended up being organized thieves and scammers. Both of them became the living crime of every kingdom. Unlike Pure Heart Valley and Sea Mountain, no other kingdom had a skilled guardian like Mao Mao or the bounty hunter Tanya Keys.

Now they worked for elites or clients who wanted luxurious things from strange and secure places. Jewels, crowns, treasures. Whatever thing their clients asked to steal, both of them were capable of doing it with big effectiveness; and in return, they received high profits of gold and jewelry. It was the most formal option, but they loved to go for the traditional one: Steal if they were bored. Their assaults had been so successful, that in all the places beyond the Valley, they had been considered high-risk criminals. They were successful thieves… too bad their lives in general weren't that good.

They had never experienced pure love or happiness. If there was something ironic about their "friendly relationship", it was that they were never those true friends as one would think. Rufus, that fox who bullied and scammed regardless of whether it was a child or not, never found Reggie as a person to express feelings. In addition to the fact that he constantly interrupted his monologues, he was very silly, and he never took him seriously if he wanted to talk about topics that were not a laugh one, and since he had almost no one in his life who would listen to him, he felt lonely ... with a bad company. And Reggie was the opposite, he felt like he had someone, but he didn't know why he wasn't happy with him. They robbed together, humiliated and cheated together… but he wasn't really smiling next to him. It was like if his presence made him uncomfortable. He didn't know if that was true, or his dumb mind was playing him a trick. They lived with insecurities, and even though these didn't interrupt their work… they interrupted their private lives.

But it was not necessary for them to remember how sad their lives were. Maybe the mission would bring them some fun that allows them to distract themselves from all those negative thoughts. Especially when it was from a new client, because that means new opportunities. However, they were surprised when their meeting was scheduled on Pure Heart Valley. They decided to take the risk, and luckily, they were not arrested… for now.

Rufus and Reggie entered their former cabin. Everything was dark, without any light on sight. They couldn't see the inside of their former safe house; in fact, not even the floor was visible to them. They started walking blindly, looking for something to illuminate. Rufus's cell phone was dead by the time, and Reggie's one had a very low brightness.

"Did you really bring your phone without charging?"

"It's not that, I just kept playing the snake game on the way here and I didn't see the percentage of battery." Rufus replied trying to evade responsibility.

"Well you're lucky I'm just as smart as you and brought a shiny cell phone." Reggie said confidently and showing off his cellphone to his partner.

Rufus looked at him with a sarcastic look, witnessing the low glow of his colleague's phone. "Yes, very bright ... Come on; let's find something to light up this place."

It took them some time to try to find something that could help them. In the end, they managed to find a box of matches. They knew these were not going to give them good illumination, so Rufus managed to make a torch out of a log and rag of his. However, he made a bit of a double effort, since Reggie didn't understand what he was doing with those objects, and explaining to him was a waste of time. He began to put the lit match on the cloth that was now the head of the torch, and finally, they had some vision. Although, they wished the first thing they saw wasn't so terrifying.

They looked up at a dark chandelier, causing Rufus to nearly fall onto his back. Reggie approached his friend in fear of the thing he had beheld before his eyes. They hadn't realized the shape of it until they had better light. It was shaped like a spider, with eight poles to put candles, two gems that looked like bloody eyes, and in the middle of it all, it had a circle of metal thorns, pointing towards to the ground. Whoever made the inside of the cabin, must had cold blood to do that decorating design.

The rest of the cabin, however, was more normal and decent. It looked with more accommodating tapestries, and the interior looked neater. There was a sofa and some plants around the room, giving the place a lively touch. Although it was no longer their refuge, they felt at home again when they returned to the place where they used to plan their misdeeds. It was now a matter of waiting.

Fifteen minutes biting their fingernails. Then thirty, looking for heat with the torch to avoid colds.

“Where is the blue client? I thought we were meant to meet her in our old refugee.” said Reggie.

“It’s probably a busy day for her. I don’t know. Surely we can give her a few moments.” answered Rufus.

Everything was quiet, just the two of them waiting patiently for their client. They were two luminous souls in the middle of the dark void.

“Do you imagine what mission she might put us? Like, she promised us a big reward for this contract.” Reggie asked him, wanting to start some conversation with his friend.

“No, but I hope this is worth the wait and the travel here. I don’t want to be here just to get my ass kicked by the Sheriff Department. Now please, I need some time for myself. ”

And as quick his response was, so was their conversation. Reggie simply shut his mouth. And they kept waiting. One hour, sitting on the couch. Two hours, tired and wanting to fall asleep. By three hours, they were giving up.

“I’m getting bored Rufus, can we leave please? She is not going to arrive to the meeting.” said Reggie in a tiring voice, like if he wanted to sleep. But with good reason, they had waited too long by this point.

Rufus knew they had waited long enough. On the one hand, he wanted to think that the blue client would come; but it was time to get real. That contract was not going to be honored. Sighing and accepting Reggie’s words, he replied.

“Well, I think you're right. What a waste of time.” He said angrily. “Come on, let's get out of here.”

They both grabbed the few things they brought, and headed for the entrance. Now they had to be careful to not get caught by the sheriffs or by a wild monster. Annoyed by the time and energy they wasted getting to a failed meeting… Or that's what they thought.

Just before leaving the area, a strange sound had made them turn back, letting them know that they were not alone. A panel began to open in front of them, with smoke surrounding the living room. It had come out unexpectedly; both of them were not even suspicious of how technological the house was.

“What’s this? Reggie, did you do that?”

“I… certaintly did not…” Reggie replied scared; as he began to get close to hug his partner. “… I have no idea what’s going on.”

Out of nowhere, they saw a TV that started to come out of the ground. 60 inches, large enough to cover much of the wall in front of them. The television began to turn on by itself, and the sound of static covered the cabin for a few seconds, until they heard a voice coming out of it.

“Gentleman.”

Both scammers saw how the screen began to adjust automatically and showed a silhouette of a sweetypie that they remembered perfectly from head to toe.

It was the girl who they scammed and brought into their former cabin 15 years ago.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Rufus asked, surprised to see Adorabat again. He hadn't seen her again since him and Reggie were expelled from doing crimes in Pure Heart Valley.

“Welcome to our meeting you two, I suppose you already know who I am.” Adorabat replied. Both thieves then realized that the blue client had been none other than the bat. And for obvious reasons.

“You!... You are the one responsible for all this.” Reggie said trying to look like he was the one who had quickly discovered the identity of the blue client. But Rufus just felt ashamed to share his presence with him. “It was pretty obvious by this point, dumbass.” he thought. His surprise and annoyance however were focused on the sweetypie.

“Little Blue, what do you want?”

“Something that has been a long time due. Revenge.”

Despite how gloomy and dark the place was, the duo couldn't help but laugh at Adorabat's words. To both of them, she was still the same silly, innocent girl they had known when she was a child. They put down the fire of the torch and put the stick safe in one of the flowerpots, to laugh better in front of Adorabat's face.

“Revenge? Oh please girl, don’t make us laugh, you should be resentful if you still hate us until now.” said Reggie without any signs of fear. They thought they were in a trap against a powerful enemy, and Adorabat was nothing scary.

Her appearance hadn't changed much. Adorabat had grown well in stature, her leg became a more effective robotic enhancement than her previous one, and she was wearing her mother's glasses despite how broken and old they were. In personality either, however, she showed no sign that what she was saying was a joke. Despite of that, Rufus decided to give her a chance to play along with her.

“Are you kidding us, right? You destroyed our Takesgiving celebration, our stolen items, our old cabin; everything we had here. You, were the reason of why we left this Valley and why we were never been able to come back for the normal holidays. Whatever dumb prank we have done to you, is insignificant to the amount of damage you have caused us during all these years!”

“You are just a dumb girl, nothing more.” continued Reggie “A girl who even on her adult years can’t even deal with a simple prank and probably be crying every night because of it. Besides, what did we ever do to you anyway? Aside from that slight prank we made to you 15 years ago, and something you should have moved on by now.”

“You specifically? Nothing. But to the world and my father? Everything.” Adorabat replied in a serious manner; she was no longer speaking like the 5-year-old girl who was fooled by both of them once. . “You both became high risk criminals, and at the flick of a pen, you became the nightmare of the streets… I’m just making justice for those you scared and scammed with your tricks...”

Despite the fact that Adorabat was no longer acting as peaceful and innocent as she was 15 years ago, the duo didn't even take her dialogue seriously. They were thinking in their minds on how to trick her again, hell, even try to make her cry. By that point, they weren't upset, but disappointed to learn that now they had to rob a girl who perhaps had no idea who they were. Maybe she could have her tricks. But they? They were experts in robberies and scams. They continued to listening her, without interrupting her.

“… You both had ruined the lives of countless people, expecting and facing no consequences for your actions. You take for yourselves and give my father nightmares, for knowing that he is not allowed to put you a stop because of his limited jurisdiction. You burn and destroy every dream alive from the comfort of the shadows, treating everyone like worthless things… No more.”

Rufus felt the anger in Adorabat's voice, he felt like she still had some grudge. Sure, they had hurt a lot of people, but he kept thinking that she did everything because of the things they both put her through years ago. Maybe she was still that sweetypie who didn't understand how hard their life was, so he thought guilt-tripping her would be a good idea to make her cry. But just when he tried to give an answer, his partner ended up interrupting him as usual.

“Pfff.” Reggie began to talk. “You are a sweet girl, but too stupid to think that you can catch us and deliver us to justice. We are a deadly duo, the nightmare of every kingdom here. We are two good friends against pathetic sheriffs like you...”

Rufus's patience suddenly ran out; being continually cut off by his friend, he finally wanted to tell him all the truths about him.

“Good friends?” Rufus replied “… You know Reggie? I don't think it is necessary for you to speak, because each time you talk, you just show that we were partners due to bad luck. You are an idiot and a fool just like our friend on screen… Ever think about why you are just a sidekick? And don't make me mention all the nonsense that you have put me through in each of our assaults because of your stupidity… I don't think friends are the right term… just partners in crime. Okay "friend"? Now shut up, and let me speak.” He told him furiously, tired of hearing his voice.

Reggie might be silly, but he clearly understood those words so well that they ended up breaking his heart. Those words were said on purpose, with the most evil intention ever seen. He knew that lack of sleep could not be the reason for Rufus's behavior; unlike him, Rufus did rest well. This time, he was mad at him.

He was silent, trying to avoid crying. There was no honest friendship, or any closeness with him. His insecurities came true. He had confirmed that Rufus didn't like his presence, and he was only with him for crimes. Nothing more.

“And you.” said Rufus while heading his head at Adorabat. “You don’t know how much pain we have been through; whatever you do to us, will just make yourself look like a true evil being. Capturing us, will just reduce our pain. Think about it, knucklehead. I had enough with Reggie on my side; maybe he is tired of me too. And your father, I don’t care. He is just a coward, a low profile hero who is just scared of breaking some rules to capture us. Maybe he is sad, but both of us? We are never happy, despite what you think. Because of you and him, our lives are basically screwed up by now. What more do you want?”

“Me? Nothing. My dad however… well let’s just say that he doesn’t want to see your faces anymore… I’m just here to watch you die.”

The coldness of her words caused both criminals to freeze in fear. They ignored their fight, their plans to attack her, everything. There was no mercy in her, and she said it firmly… as if she knew what would happen to them. She began to cross her arms and confidently, smiling wickedly, said the darkest words they could both hear from her. The last ones for their ears.

“Badgerclops, finish it.”

A gun sounded near them, and turning quickly, both criminals saw the badger's shadow pointing at the ceiling. Confused, they were wondering why he wasn't aiming at them... until they remembered the chandelier that scared them when they arrived at the cabin.

Pum!

They didn't have time to react. Adorabat's smile rose and it was the last thing they saw before the chandelier fell on both of them, ending their chain of robberies and crimes in the kingdoms beyond the Valley. All this happened while the bat was witnessing the stage behind the screen without feeling any resentment. For someone who had an innocent personality, she did have a dark side.

A few seconds passed, until the screen finally turned off. Badgerclops began to hear Adorabat's voice on his radio. He wasn't surprise to not hear any pity or something like that from her.

“Finally, Rugus and Reggie are gone. Soon enough, they will only be a nightmare for us and their victims.”

“Hey Adorabat, you are playing too much videogames, this is real life, come out now.” Badgerclops said while he was getting out of his hiding place. He was listening and following from the shadows the entire dialogue that his daughter said with both scammers. They had both waited three hours to finish off the criminal duo, but it had been worth it. Adorabat emerged from a small room located on the second floor, and flying downstairs, she reunited with her father.

“Well, I guess this is a mission accomplished. Although I think I could have saved you all this time by shooting them without them noticing.” Badgerclops mentioned.

“I know, but I wanted to see the disappointment, annoyance and fear on their faces. I also wanted to play with them. You know, the normal stuff."

Badgerclops raised an eyebrow upon hearing his daughter's suspicious words “Hmm, are you sure this wasn't some payback for what they did to you long time ago?”

Adorabat made a cute face look and said to him “Do you really think this little face want some payback?” Badgerclops simply laughed after seeing his daughter trying to hide her true intentions. She was cute, despite her having that maniac side.

“I'm glad to hear that Mao Mao and I raised you the same way as Eugene. Three kind-hearted parents raised a wonderful hero like you.”

They both began to see the rubble of the chandelier and some moments later, they turned on the lights that were connected to a remote control. While the surroundings of the house looked attractive, the center was filled with metal, glass and candles. And under the whole disaster, there were Rufus and Reggie. Without moving, still as statues, both bodies cold as a block of ice. Badgerclops was watching the scene with a very normal expression, without surprise or annoyance. However, Adorabat watched the whole scene with a satisfied smile… as if it was something she had long awaited.

Badgerclops broke the brief silence that father and daughter had, and began to ask Adorabat about what was next. In the end, it was she who organized this secret operation.

“Do we dump their bodies in the forest? That way a monster could clean all the evidence.”

“No,” Adorabat replied simply. “Let the sweetypies find them in a few days. By looking at their bodies, they will know that they will finally be safe. They will think this was all an accident. In the end, there is no witness who can blame us for this.”

“Should we tell Mao Mao that we stopped both of them forever?”

“I don't think we have to do that. I don't want him to know that we broke our promise of jurisdiction... Besides, when the dawn diary breaks the news, I just want to see some relief on his face. I'm sure when he finds out that they won't be able to continue their crime wave anymore, I'll see a smile on him. He will finally be able to rest his mind knowing that people will no longer be afraid of Rufus and Reggie. But first, let me check if it's true.”

Adorabat picked up a piece of metal from the rubble and threw it at Rufus's hand that was the only part shown on the surface. There was no reaction from him. She threw it with so much strength; she must have heard a scream from him. But nothing. She smiled again after seeing that her objective had been completed.

“This will be a secret between the two of us. After today, none of this ever happened." Adorabat said. Badgerclops just smiled and nodded.

The bat watched the entire scene in silence, analyzing everything that had happened until that night. From her childhood, she saw how annoyed and disappointed Mao Mao was after knowing he couldn't go hunting them because his jurisdiction and royal promise did not allow him to go beyond the Valley. He felt guilty for not locking them up when he got the chance, and he thought that all the crimes Rufus and Reggie committed were his fault. Although the Valley was almost entirely protected, and Badgerclops' love was something he never lacked; for 15 years, they were both his nightmare. Innocent people were scared everyday by these "monsters" as Mao Mao would say, and he blamed himself for that... and while Adorabat already dealt with what they have done to her, she didn't forgive them for hurting his dad and for hurting innocent people.

No more. She had stopped them. She acquired new contacts, searched for information on their whereabouts; on their robbery patterns… she spent a large amount of gold to fix the cabin with Badgerclops help. But in the end, it had all been worth it. The meeting had been a success. Rufus and Reggie were dead. There would be no more terror of them on the outside.

“Is there something you were going to do tonight, Badgerclops?”

“Well, you know, enjoy a movie night with Mao Mao. You know, being next to him hugging him is kind of cute. But hey, I think we both deserved some family time too. It was great to do this with you.”

Adorabat simply smiled after hearing those words. “Do you think it is too late to do something with him on HQ?”

“Maybe he's awake, I don't know. I think we should go back to check him out.”

Father and daughter headed for the door, leaving behind the pile of garbage in the luxurious cabin. It was now a matter of waiting for both villains to be found. At least what will be left of them.

“Do you want to make a race to HQ for a piece of ice cream? There are some leftovers that I have kept in the fridge.”

“Of course I would love to! Try to catch me dad!” said Adorabat and flew off in the direction to the department. Badgerclops pursued her with his mechanical arm, while they both laughed in the middle of the starry night.

They left the area without raising suspicions. All of this, while letting time degrade whatever was left of the criminal duo…

**Author's Note:**

> This one-shot was inspired by a game I played recently. If you get the references, you will earn a cookie.
> 
> Thanks for reading this story!


End file.
